


Rainbow Vision

by Eternal_Refrain



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, various other characters are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-21 17:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30025023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternal_Refrain/pseuds/Eternal_Refrain
Summary: When you meet your soulmate, the world blooms in color. It's not an instant thing. The colors gradually seep in throughout your first meeting. Sometimes it's unrequited, but regardless when your soulmate dies, you lose colors forever. The world returning to grayscale until you eventually leave it.marigolds Soulmate AU
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 4
Kudos: 63
Collections: Inspired by marigolds





	Rainbow Vision

**Author's Note:**

  * For [justanotherfangirl02](https://archiveofourown.org/users/justanotherfangirl02/gifts).



> This was conceptualized by justanotherfangirl02. I decided to write it.  
> This fanfiction is based off marigolds by colbub. If you haven't read it, this won't make sense.

Akira Kursu lies awake in his bed. He dreamt of marigolds again. Despite the grayscale he knew the flowers well enough to recognize them. Which was strange, considering he's been able to see color since he met Goro. Shouldn't dreams also be in color now? He hadn't researched that too much because he didn't want to know if it was a sign of an unrequited soulmate. He shouldn't mind if it's unrequited, he should be happy Goro even wants to be friends with him, and he is. It's just...

Akira opens his phone and looks at their chat log. He sent a picture of a laurel yesterday after seeing Goro on T.V. Ambition, success and renown all fit the detective well, even if he never provides links that go into their meaning to accompany the photos. Especially when he learned Goro read through all of them. He's the only person Akira texts regularly, and their conversations don't usually stop unless Goro has work. It has to mean something right? That Goro remembered him, came back to the bakery and shared a part of his childhood before they had some dorayaki. 

Maybe he thinks it's unrequited too. Maybe he's also scared to bring up the subject and is happy they're friends. It's the only question he dodges in interviews, which is why it's a repeated question. Maybe he wanted to ask, but after being shoved into fame he didn't want to burden Akira with such a thing. Maybe it is just unrequited and Akira is hoping for something that isn't there. 

Ultimately, he doesn't type anything, turning off his phone and sitting up. He does have school today. Might as well get ready. Unbeknownst to him in less than twenty-four hours his world will be turned upside down. He'll be arrested on false charges, put on trial where no one listens to him and condemned to a year of probation, and the label of a criminal. It's with trembling desperation after escaping an apartment that never felt colder to the expanse of nature that's still freezing in winter does he open their messages again. 

When Akira sees the laurels he hesitates. Even if the charges are false Goro still a detective. A _famous_ detective whose friendship with a criminal might risk his reputation if it was discovered. Would Goro toss him aside if he knew? Would he cut off their contact and leave him with nothing? Akira's heart squeezes at the very thought. 

A strong breeze whips by causing him to shiver and his finger slips. Panic shoots through him when it barely takes a second for Goro to answer, voice muffled. 

"You rarely call," Goro says when Akira hastily puts the speaker to his ear to hear him better. "Is something wrong?" 

He could lie. Leave out the details of the trial and just tell him about moving to Tokyo. Say his parents are leaving for a business trip and don't want him alone in the apartment for that long. But Goro is a detective and could easily find the truth on his own. Would he be more angry then? 

"Kurusu-kun?" Goro asks because he's been silent for too long and the concern in his voice, so different from the one he hears on television and something inside Akira breaks. The truth spills from his mouth in a jumble of words that he's not even sure makes sense and when he gets to the end of his explanation he has to remind himself to breathe. Goro hums on the other line, considering and Akira hardly dares to hope.

"I live in Shibuya," He offers casually as if he wasn't the one person Akria truly cared about not rejecting him. "If you tell me when, I'll meet you there on the day, Kurusu-kun." 

"You don't mind?" He forces himself to ask because he doesn't quite believe what he's hearing. 

"No," Goro replies firmly, almost as if Akira was an idiot for thinking otherwise. "We're friends, aren't we?"

It's all Akira can to do hold in his tears at the rush of relief that flows through him. He barely thanks Goro and ends the call before the dam breaks and he's shivering in cold mountain air tears streaming down is face at the fact his _soulmate_ still wanted to be friends. His soulmate who lives in Tokyo and will meet him there when he arrives and can regularly(at least, somewhat) meet up with afterwards.

Suddenly, he can't wait to get to Tokyo.

* * *

In his previous life, Goro Akechi only thought about soulmates before his mother died and when he first started to see color. He ignored it at first, the meeting with the staff wouldn't delay itself so that he could process that, yes, he did in fact have a soulmate and wouldn't be forced to live in shades of gray all his life. And, well, the fact he didn't actually know who his soulmate was. None of the Thieves (and he did know they were the Thieves because he heard the bleached blonde say so very loudly before strategically slipping himself into the conversation) chased after him asking if he could also see color which he was very thankful for. The Phantom Thieves were a potential threat after all and he could use his status as one of their soulmates to get closer to them later. Say he was embarrassed to bring it up before then or that he didn't want them to get hounded by the media simply due to their status as his soulmate. Of course, Akechi would have to figure out who was most likely his soulmate, and had to account for the fact the Thieves might breach the topic first before enacting that plan. 

He dismissed the bleached blonde as an option immediately. There was no way someone careless enough to give away his identity as a Phantom Thief to whoever happened to be close enough to hear was the who fate decided to stick him with. That left the girl, and the boy with glasses. After filming he hoped his soulmate was Akira Kurusu. The boy was smart and wasn't afraid to argue with him. Akechi found he enjoyed their debates whenever they met up(which was far less frequent than he'd like, but he'd never admit that).

When Shido ordered the assassination of the leader of the Phantom Thieves he squashed the idea of infiltrating them by using his status as Akira's soulmate. In fact, when the order came he felt grateful Akira hadn't brought up the topic himself, especially since Akechi started visiting Leblanc. Nothing would get in the way of his revenge. Not even his soulmate. 

Akechi waited for the gray to return after shooting Akira between the eyes. It never came. Not as he left the interrogation room. Not as he called Shido in the elevator to report the missions success. Not as he made his way out of police headquarters. It wasn't until he was back in his apartment that Akechi succumbed to manic laughter. Akira wasn't even his _soulmate_. Ann was and in all likelihood he'd never see her again. 

Then Akira showed up in Shido's Palace most definitely not dead and he considered for a moment that maybe he was his soulmate after all, before pushing the thought away with anger. He died hoping he had an unrequited soulmate in Akira and that he'd be able to enjoy colors with someone else.

Minato didn't bring up the topic of soulmates and he was grateful for that because he didn't know what he would say. 

In his second life Akechi can still see color, but easily pushes thoughts of soulmates behind. He has Shido, Wakaba, and his internship with Atsuzawa to worry about. In fact, he successfully pushes any thought of soulmates out of his mind until Takaki brings up colors when they're interviewing Akira about the people he saw with Hideki Shibata. 

"It's a shame you can't see colors Kurusu-kun," Takaki states. Akechi's pen stops. "But you gave us as many details as you could, and that'll still help us a lot!" He glances at Akira who's shifted his gaze to him, eyes burning with intensity. Akechi carefully looks back down at his notes and starts writing again. 

"Can you see color?" Akira asks. Akechi has to force his pen to keep moving. 

"Yes! I'm lucky to be soulmates with the most wonderful woman in the world!" Takaki shares enthusiastically. "You'll meet whoever your destined to be with someday, Kusuru-kun." He can feel Akira's eyes on him. They don't leave until they've said goodbye in front of the station. 

Just like last time Akechi studiously ignores any thoughts about soulmates until he's in his dorm room. Could Akira not see color? _His_ Akira had never brought up the subject and he's run into Ann in this life as well. She hadn't run after him when he left the pancake shop which is something he can easily imagine a middle school Ann doing if he was her soulmate. She was the only possible candidate because he refused to consider Ryuji being his soulmate and Morgana, as a cat, didn't have one. Time travel wouldn't change who your soulmate was right? He almost wishes he confirmed Akira was his soulmate in his previous life. 

**Don't waste your time on idle thoughts.** Morrigan chides. 

Akechi firmly pushes any thought of soulmates out of his mind. Then he becomes the Detective Prince again. 

The first few times an interviewer or show host asked about his soulmate he found himself looking at his and Akira's chat until Morrigan snapped him out of it. He grew out of the habit quickly. Soulmates were something do be dealt with after everything is resolved and he successfully prevents Akira from taking whatever world-altering deal sent him back here in the first place. 

* * *

Akira barely keeps himself from crying when he wakes up. It's so painfully obvious now, from the marigolds, to the dreams of the future being in grayscale. Of course Goro wouldn't live until the end of this year. _No_. He won't accept this. He can accept Goro being his unrequited soulmate, that was obvious from the shadow of someone else in Goro's eyes that Akira more and more when he looked at him. He can accept Goro Akechi being GA and the cause of the coma incidents. He can't accept Goro's death. 

Now, what does he know about GA and his dreams of the future? 

* * *

Morgana spouts a lot of nonsense when he realizes Akechi is the Black Mask, Akechi only latches onto the last thing he says. 

"You mean the Goro Akechi that's Joker's unrequited soulmate?" _What?_ "You mean the one that... You know what, it doesn't matter. I-I think I'm going to faint." 

If Akechi wasn't used to pushing these thoughts to the side, he might not have been able to order Morgana to heal himself. He might have also ignored Haru's attempts at reconciliation, but Akechi is very good at pushing away the thoughts of soulmates, so he leaves Okumura's Palace with some messages for Akira that he sends on the way to his dorm. Once he arrives he allows himself to ponder Morgana's statement. 

_Unrequited soulmates_ meant that although your soulmate was a perfect fit for you, you weren't a perfect fit for them and there was someone else that was, their true soulmate. Akechi almost laughs. Is that why Akira never brought up the topic? Because he though it was unrequited. Did _his_ Akira think the same? 

Should he bring it up now? No, that was definitely a conversation for after he revealed himself to the rest of the Thieves, but...

Today is June twenty-second. December ninth is the day he dies. 

He'll tell Akira after the engine room, because he _will not_ die this time. 

**Author's Note:**

> I may or may not have put "I Believe" on loop when my playlist reached that song while writing this.  
> This is the first one-shot I've ever written, and the first Soulmate AU I've ever written. I hope you liked it!


End file.
